The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has promised to pursue and recover all funds lost because of corruption activities, including the Agyapa Royalties agreement, if elected in the upcoming election.
It is also going to investigate the Agyapa Royalties agreement and prosecute anyone found to have engaged in any form of corruption or related activity.
“The day of accountability is fast approaching, and no one found culpable will be left off the hook by the next NDC/Mahama government,” Mr. Sammy Gyamfi, the National Communications Officer of the Party, said at a news conference, in Accra, on Monday.
The Agyapa Royalties deal was introduced in 2020 to raise funds through mineral royalties for infrastructure development.
However, in response to public criticism, the government deferred the arrangement in 2021 to allow for additional consultation.
At a recent Public Accounts Committee hearing, it was disclosed by the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) that the amount of $12m had, so far, been spent on the deal.
The expenditure was for processes linked to making the initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange prior to the deal’s suspension.
Mr Gyamfi said the facts were not shocking, as the NDC had long believed that the deal had been orchestrated to defraud Ghanaians.
However, he stated that the NDC was outraged by the amount spent on the transaction, describing it as “unconscionable, cruel, and brazen abuse of the public purse.”
“This is very sad and disheartening, “he added.
The National Communications Officer explained that the funds lost to the deal could have been used to address pressing national needs such as restoring the economy, covering the cost of months of treatment for kidney patients in the country, and purchasing textbooks for basic schools across the country.
“This colossal amount of money, could have been used to provide childhood vaccines to protect innocent babies from dying of childhood killer diseases due to shortage of essential vaccines,” he said, adding that the amount could have been used to “provide potable drinking water, or several CHIP compounds or schools for thousands of Ghanaians in deprived communities of the country.”
Mr Gyamfi stressed that the arrangement resulted in significant financial loss for the state and vowed that the perpetrators would not go unpunished.
He urged Ghanaians to vote for the NDC and its flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, to pursue and recover public funds that had been looted.
“We are absolutely confident that the good people of Ghana will rise to the occasion and reject corruption, nepotism, impunity, arrogance of power and economic mismanagement come 7th December 2024,” he added.
GNA
KAS
20 Feb. 2024
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